Nearly Half of Americans Have Negative View of Country's Future After Trump's Election
Thirty-nine percent have a positive outlook about the country's future.
— -- Close to half of Americans have negative feelings about the future of the country following the election of Donald Trump as president, while well over a third have positive feelings about the path ahead under the president-elect.
ABC News partnered with SSRS survey research firm to gauge the reaction of Americans toward Donald Trump's winning election as the 45th president of the United States, and found Americans sharply divided.
When asked to give one word on how they feel about the future of the country under a President Trump, 46 percent responded negatively with a wide range of words, including “scared,” “afraid” and "bleak." Thirty-nine percent described having a positive outlook, with "hopeful" and "optimistic" among the single most commonly used words among all respondents. Fifteen percent were uncertain or neutral in their view of the country's future.
Similarly, nearly half of Americans have a negative view of Trump's election as president, somewhat more than the number who view the election results positively.
When asked to use one word to describe how they feel about the Republican nominee's victory in the presidential race, 48 percent responded negatively, using words like "disappointed," "devastated" and “worried.” Forty percent had a positive view of Trump's election, using words such as "happy," “hopeful” and “relieved.” The other 12 percent were neutral.
While Americans hold sharply different views of Trump's election and the country's future, nearly three-fourths of respondents, 73 percent, reported having a close friend or family member who supported a different presidential candidate than they did.
The ABC News/SSRS Poll was conducted using the SSRS Probability Panel. Interviews were conducted online from November 10 – November 11, 2016 among a nationally representative sample of 256 respondents age 18 and older. The margin of error for total respondents is +/-7.7% at the 95% confidence level. Design effect is 1.58. The SSRS Probability Panel is a probability-based, online panel of adults recruited from random digit dialed landline and cell phone numbers. For more information, visit http://ssrs.com/research/ssrs-probability-panel/.